Myopia is a condition where light focuses too soon in front of the retina. People with myopia tend to notice that their vision far away is blurry while their vision up close may be clear. Myopia is a common condition that affects an estimated 30% of the U.S. population. Glasses, contact lenses and laser vision correction may all be good options for correction of myopia.

Nearsightedness is caused by an eye that is naturally too strong in refractive power and/or an eye that is deeper or larger in size than average. Since the nearsighted eye requires less power to see clearly, the eyes' natural (power-rich) focusing ability cannot help correct this troublesome condition.  Nearsightedness can be easily corrected with prescription eyewear and/or contact lenses.

Progression of myopia is due to genetic and functional factors. Just as eye color is inherited, so may be the amount of myopia.  This genetic cause of myopia will usually progress until about eighteen years of age, remain fairly stable in our twenties and thirties and generally decrease beyond our forties.  Functional myopia, however, can develop and contribute to nearsightedness at any age as a stress response to close-range tasks such as reading, computer use, etc.